Protector for heels and soles of boots and shoes.



S. F. PEOK.

PROTECTOR FOR HEELS AND SOLES 0F BOOTS AND SHOES.

APILIOATION FILED MAY 9, 1911.

,OO6,9'78, Patentd Oct. 24, 1911.

wa'tnesseafnvevztor M -WW- y @112. @01

COLUMBIA PLANDCKRAPH c0.. wAsmNa'roN. n. c.

s ran saris ETQ,

STEPHEN F. PECK, OF AUBURN, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF EATER-SON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPO- RATION OF NEW JERSEY.

PROTECTOR FOR HEELS AND SOLES OF BOOTS AND SHOES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed. May 9, 1911.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, STEPHEN F. Pnox, a citizen of the United States, residing at Auburn, in the county of Providence, State of Rhode Island, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Protectors for Heels and Soles of Boots and Shoes, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

At the present time it is customary to embed metallic reinforces of thin strip-metal in the top-lifts of heels of boots and shoes, and also in the soles thereof, for the purpose of retarding the wear of the said top-lifts or soles. These reinforces commonly are termed protectors, and in the usual forms which are found upon the market and are in use, are horseshoe-shaped, or more properly U-shaped in plan, being driven edgewise into the material to which they are applied, and until only one edge of the protector remains visible. The forms of protectors heretofore in general use have the arms of the same either extended simply parallel to each other, or slightly converging toward their free extremities. In use, they are driven into a top-lift or sole with the closed ends thereof turned toward the edge of the top-lift or sole, and the free ends of the side-portions turned inward toward the central portion of the top-lift or sole. In one form of protector, the exterior is ridged to assist in retaining the protector in the material into which it is driven, but ordinarily both surfaces of the protector are smooth and the protector is retained in place simply by the frictional hold of the material against the said plain surfaces. As a result, it frequently happens in use that the protector is dislodged through the application of pressure or blows to the exposed edge of the same at the closed side of the protector, particularly after the sole or heel containing the protector has become somewhat worn away.

The object of the invention is to provide a protector which shall be free from tendency to dislodgment in the manner just referred to, and which also shall be so constructed as to facilitate the operations by which in the machine for setting .or driving the same automatically the protector is guided to the driving point and positioned in readiness to be driven.

Briefly stated, the invention consists in a protector having a U-shaped body, and hav ing the free ends of the sides or arms of the said body provided, at the open side of the U, with outwardly turned squarely bent or recurved relatively short hooks or lips. The said lips are formed transversely of the strip constituting the protector. That is to say, they extend crosswise of the strip, 1'. e., in the direction from the upper edge of the strip toward the lower edge thereof. The said lips, by their shape, in addition to affording a wider and'more extended bearing in the material into which the protector is set, engage with the said material in a manner which retains the protector in position against tendency to become upward] and outwardly tilted and dislodged, the hold and the leverage of the said outwardly extending lips or hooks serving effectually to obviate the displacement of the protector. These lips or hooks do away with the difficulty heretofore experienced in the machines for automatically driving protectors, in con- ,nection with guiding a protector to the place where it is driven, and with positioning the protector in readiness for driving, because the said wings constitute symmetrical oppositely projecting portions with which suitable guides and positioning devices in the machine may be arranged to engage; and they serve to enable the position of the protector about to be driven to be fixed more conveniently and precisely than heretofore.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which latter,

Figure 1 shows in face view a heel toplift having applied thereto one form of protector embodying the invention. Fig. 2 shows views of one of the protectors of Fig. 1 separately and on a larger scale. Fig. 3 shows views of the protector of a slightly different form.

Having reference to the drawings,the heel top-lift is designated 1, and the protectors embedded in the same are marked 2, 2, 2. The sides or arms constituting the main portions of the said protectors are designated 21, 21, and at 22, 22, are indicated the holding lips or hooks with which the free extremities of the said sides or arms of the body are furnished. The said lips or hooks are relatively short as compared with the size or length of the sides or arms 21, 21. They extend outwardly in opposite directions or away from the middle of the protector, and in addition to thus extending outwardly in opposite directions they are squarely bent, that is to say, extend outward from the sides of the protector at such an angle that the hold which they take in the material into which they are driven is efiicient in preventing the protector from moving freely in an upward and outward direction.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the protector is formed more on curved lines than that of Fig. 3, which latter is more sharply angular in form.

The angle at which the lips or hooks project outwardly from the sides of the U- shaped protector may vary within certain limits without materially modifying the effectiveness of the lips or hooks in retaining the protector in position in withstanding force tending to overturn the same laterally outward.

I claim as my invention:

A protector for heels and soles of boots and shoes consisting of a U-shaped strip, having the sides thereof formed with outwardly-projecting retaining lips extending transversely of the strip.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of Witnesses.

STEPHEN F. PEC'K. \Vitnesses:

BENJAMIN WV. GRIM, CLARENCE A. ALDRICH, .BEULAH BLAINE;

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

